Byung Gil Kim

INTRODUCTION

Bass-baritone Byung Gil Kim captivates audiences with his strong, dark-colored fresh voice, good technique, and powerful presence on stage. He has been part of the ensemble of the Deutsche Oper Berlin since the 2017/2018 season.

RECENT AND FUTURE ENGAGEMENTS

In the 2023/24 season, Byung Gil Kim debuted as Escamillo/Carmen at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. On the DOB stage, he also performed as Angelotti/Tosca, Figaro/Le nozze di Figaro, Ramfis/Aida, Raimondo/Lucia di Lammermoor, Bonzo/Madama Butterfly, Antonio/Il viaggio a Reims, Hans Foltz/Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, a.o. At Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, he made a role debut as Inquisitor/The Fiery Angel.

In the 2024/25 season, he will debut his first Wagner role as Heinrich der Vogler (König Heinrich) in Lohengrin and Banquo/Macbeth at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. He will have further performances as Timur/Turandot, Colline/La bohème, Ramfis/Aida, Raimondo/Lucia di Lammermoor, and Escamillo/Carmen, a.o.

He will also make his house debuts as Figaro/Le nozze di Figaro at the Korea National Opera in Seoul and as Timur/Turandot at Teatre Principal de Palma de Mallorca, and will perform as Raimondo/Lucia di Lammermoor at Oper Köln.

Further future engagements include Escamillo/Carmen and Collatinus/The Rape of Lucretia at Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari. 

BIOGRAPHY

Byung Gil Kim was born in Busan, South Korea. He received his musical training at an early age, singing in the children’s choir and playing the piano and the drums. After completing his bachelor’s degree, he moved to Germany. then to the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart, where he completed his Master’s Degree in 2017. During this time, he sang in opera productions at the Hochschule, as Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro, Lindorf, Dapertutto and Crespel in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann, and Monterone in Rigoletto.

Byung Gil Kim had his first guest engagements while still a student; he sang Alcindoro in La Bohème at the Theater Pforzheim, Haly in the children’s opera Käpt’n Bone at the Festspiele Baden-Baden, Cappadocier in Salome at the Staatsoper Stuttgart and Alidoro in La Cenerentola at the Volkstheater Rostock. In 2019 he sang the role of Raimondo in the new production of Lucia di Lammermoor at the renowned opera house in Daegu, South Korea.

From 2017 to 2019, Byung Gil Kim sang in the ensemble of the Deutsche Oper Berlin on a scholarship from WCN South Korea and the Förderkreis der Deutschen Oper Berlin e. V. and was subsequently accepted into the house’s permanent ensemble. His roles include Zaccaria in Nabucco, the Four Villains in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Ramfis in Aida, Colline in La Bohème, Timur in Turandot, Monterone and Sparafucille in Rigoletto, Bassolo in Roméo et Juliette, Zuniga in Carmen, the 4. Brabantische Edle in Lohengrin, Sciarrone and Angelotti in Tosca, Bonze in Madama Butterfly, Mandarin and Timur in Turandot, Antonio in Il viaggio a Reims, Lodovico in Otello, Chief Priest of Baal in Nabucco and Chirurgo in La forza del destino, Hans Foltz in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.

Guest appearances have taken him as Sacerdote in Nabucco at the Semperoper Dresden, Colline in La Boheme and Zio Bonze in Madama Butterfly at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, Ramfis in Aida at The Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen, Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor at Staatstheater Darmstadt and as Frère Laurent in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette at the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari.

Awards

Byung Gil Kim is a 1st prize winner of the Singing Competition at the 63rd Gaecheon Art Festival and 1st prize winner of the 7th Lions International Singing Competition at the Gut lmmling Opera Festival, where he performed the role of Ariodate in Handel’s Xerxes at the festival there.